DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 1630Z February 10, 2023
SMOKE/DUST: South Central U.S… Daily seasonal fire activity in the south central U.S. and in Mexico along with yesterday’s round of blowing dust emanating from eastern New Mexico and western Texas resulted in a thin density smoke/dust mixture which was seen this morning across the general area stretching from northeastern Mexico and southern Texas to the Middle and Lower Mississippi Valley regions. Cloudiness over portions of this area did limit some information on the extent of the dust/smoke mixture in satellite imagery. SMOKE: Cuba/Caribbean Sea/Eastern Gulf of Mexico/Florida/Atlantic Ocean off the Southeast U.S. Coast… A large area of what is believed to be mainly thin density smoke from widespread fire activity in Cuba was seen across much of Cuba and extending to the west and south of Cuba over the Caribbean Sea. The smoke then spread to the north over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and from there to the northeast over a portion of the Florida peninsula and offshore over the Atlantic off the southeastern U.S. coast. Some contribution from seasonal fire activity in Florida may also be present over Florida and off the southeastern U.S. coast. SMOKE/AEROSOL/DUST: Gulf of Mexico/Eastern and Southern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Ocean South of Southern Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A very large mass of a mixture of thin density smoke/aerosol/dust was again visible this morning covering portions of southern and eastern Mexico and northwestern Central America. The mixture also extended to the south of southern Mexico and northwestern Central America well out over the Pacific, and to north over the Bay of Campeche and the central Gulf of Mexico. This mixture was attributed to daily rounds of seasonal fire activity in Mexico and Central America, industrial activity in the region, and possibly some blowing dust emanating from sources in far southeastern Mexico and southern Guatemala. An embedded area of moderately dense smoke/dust/aerosol mixture was seen along the coast of far southeastern Mexico and southern Guatemala, over the Gulf of Tehuantepec, and across a portion of the Pacific Ocean south of there. JS THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO THE SOURCE FIRE IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE: JPEG map: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg Smoke data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons Fire data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov